This invention relates to a material for use in composite sliding surface bearings having a plastic sliding layer, which material comprises a metallic backing layer preferably of steel, bronze or a high-strength aluminum alloy, and a sliding layer, which is bonded to the backing layer and has a thickness of 30 to 500 .mu.m, preferably 50 to 250 .mu.m, and consists of a matrix-forming fluorine-containing polymer that contains a fine dispersion of 5 to 50% by weight, preferably 30 to 40% by weight, metal powder having a high affinity to fluorine and a particle size of .ltoreq.40 .mu.m.
European Patent Specification No. 0 044 577 and German Patent Specification No. 29 28 081 disclose a material for composite sliding surface bearings having a plastic sliding layer, which material comprises a metallic backing layer, preferably a backing layer of steel, and on said backing layer has a sliding layer having a thickness of 30 to 500 .mu.m and consisting of matrix-forming fluorine-containing polymer, i.e., polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with 5 to 50% by volume lead particles having a particle size of .ltoreq.50 .mu.m. Said sliding layer may contain substances which improve the sliding behavior, such as PTFE, MoS.sub.2, graphite, as finely dispersed inclusions. The plastic sliding layer has desirably been applied to a porous rough layer which has been sinter-bonded or sprayed onto the backing layer and has a thickness of 250 to 350 .mu.m and consists of a metallic material which has good sliding properties, preferably bronze, and the voids of the rough layer are filled with the plastic of the sliding layer.
The bearing bodies made of that composite bearing material have found a wide field of application but undesirably cannot withstand high mechanical loads, such as occur, e.g., in bearings of hydraulic motors. Their life is intolerably short so that the life of the machine is limited. This results in the requirement for composite bearing materials which are capable of carrying comparatively higher mechanical loads and have a higher wear resistance and the lowest possible friction.